The 103rd China Import and Export Fair, the largest yet, recorded 25.43 billion U.S. dollars worth of export deals during its first session, which ended on Sunday.

That was a rise of 1.8 percent from the previous session of the fair in October, said Xu Bin, spokesman of the fair.

Long called the Canton fair, it was a biannual export-promotion event until the 101st session, when its name officially was changed to the China Import and Export Fair from the Chinese Export Commodities Fair.

The fair, held in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, has two phases this year. The first was from April 15 to 20, while the second will run from April 25 to 30. The first phase featured textiles, garments, health products, household appliances, tools, small vehicles and hardware. Food, tea, kitchenware, decorations, toys, sporting goods, and office supplies will be on show in the second phase.

Business deals featuring mechanical and electrical products were the most active, totaling 16 billion U.S. dollars and accounting for 62.9 percent of all contracts.

Private companies continued to play a leading role in securing business deals, followed by state-owned enterprises and overseas-financed ventures.

Attendance at the first session was up 4.1 percent from the previous fair, with 128,155 overseas procurement business people, but down 5.8 percent from the 101st.

Judging by deals done, Europe, the Middle East and the United States remained the top three buyers at the fair, which is considered a "weather vane" for conditions in China's foreign trade.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2008)